Recent images of seas of illegal aliens marching in cities across the U.S. are having a far greater negative than positive impact on the foreigners' cause, according to a new poll. A Zogby survey of nearly 8,000 people shows coast-to-coast protests against immigration proposals in Congress – particularly to make it a federal felony to be an illegal worker in the U.S. – have not persuaded a majority of likely American voters. Asked whether the protests have made likely voters more or less sympathetic toward undocumented workers, 61 percent said they're less likely to be sympathetic to the plight of illegals as a result of the protests, while only 32 percent of respondents said they're now more sympathetic.... http://www.worldnetdaily.com

At a shelter overflowing with migrants airing their blistered feet, Francisco Ramirez nursed muscles sore from trekking through the Arizona desert — a trip that failed when his wife did not have the strength to go on.He said the couple would rest for a few days, then try again, a plan echoed by dozens reclining on rickety bunk beds and carpets tossed on the floor after risking violent bandits and the harsh desert in unsuccessful attempts to get into the United States.The shelter’s manager, Francisco Loureiro, said he has not seen such a rush of migrants since 1986, when the United States allowed 2.6 million illegal residents to get American citizenship. This time, the draw is a bill before the U.S. Senate that could legalize some of the 11 million people now illegally in the United States while tightening border security. Migrants are hurrying to cross over in time to qualify for a possible guest-worker program — and before the journey becomes even harder....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12291035/

The US government has issued guidelines on rebuilding thousands of homes and businesses in New Orleans, seven months after Hurricane Katrina hit. Under the new federal advisories, many of the buildings will have to be raised up to three feet (0.9m) for residents to qualify for flood insurance. The Bush administration also pledged an additional $2.5bn (£1.4bn) to replace flood walls and raise levees protecting 98% of the population in the region. The funds must be approved by Congress. "This will enable people to get on with their lives," said Donald Powell, the federal rebuilding co-ordinator. Mr Powell declined to estimate how many homes would have to be raised but described the recommendations as good news, saying raising a house three feet was "not that dramatic". ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4905810.stm

Australia is to send all asylum seekers arriving by boat on its mainland to be processed in island camps. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said those seeking refugee status would be assessed in an "offshore location". The move follows a diplomatic row between Australia and Indonesia over the issue of refugees. In March, Jakarta recalled its envoy to Canberra over Australia's decision to grant refugee status to 42 people from Papua province. Previously, since 2001, asylum seekers arriving at offshore islands were deemed to have landed outside Australia's migration zone, meaning that their cases did not fall under Australian migration law, whilst those arriving on the mainland were handled under the Australian legal process. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4905652.stm

It is a shadow economy, brought to life every morning as the sun comes up in cities and towns across America.The scene occurs daily in places from South Florida, where trucks and buses carry illegal immigrants to work in the fields, to Duplin County, N.C., where immigrants report to work on farms, to the hardened street corners of Newark, N.J., where undocumented workers wait to be hired. Jose, an immigrant from Ecuador, told ABC News he came to America with his brother to look for work. He's stood on a Newark street corner every morning for nearly seven years now.As he talked with ABC News, a van pulled up and, like the workers inside, Jose was off to work. It was just one van out of many that pulled into the neighborhood where undocumented workers scramble for construction jobs daily....http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=1826824&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Police arrested a man Thursday in the gruesome killing of six relatives in his grandmother's home, where four of the bodies were found wrapped in blankets in the basement, and blood, bone fragments and a hammer were discovered upstairs, authorities said. Jesse Wise, whose grandparents owned the home, was charged with six counts of homicide, police said. The victims were killed last weekend and apparently died of multiple traumatic injuries, police said. According to a search warrant affidavit, at least one had an obvious head wound. Wise's 64-year-old grandmother, Emily Wise, two of her daughters and two of her grandchildren, ages 5 and 19, were identified as the victims, said East Lampeter Township police Chief John Bowman. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5753395,00.html